5/13/2021

"We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge" 
                                                       - John Naisbitt

Two Crises in Science

  • Replication Crisis: Why does much of the work in SBE sciences not replicate?
    • Procedural training in statistics instead of statistical reasoning
    • Over-reliance on NHST
    • Lack of strong theory
  • Qualitative Methods: “Credibility Crisis”:
    • How to deal with Bias
    • Scope/Generalizability
    • Empirical vs. Advocacy/Sociopolitical (“is” vs. “ought”)
  • Much preoccupation with Qaunt vs. Qual debate

Quant vs. Qual: The Wrong Problem

  • The problem is not methodological, but is “user error”
  • We tend to use the wrong methods, whether quantitative or qualitative, to answer important questions.
  • Why?
    • Most applied researchers only know basic methods
    • Most applied researchers don’t do experiments so don’t think causally
    • SBE researchers haven’t fully embraced complexity
  • Identifying problems -> Solving problems
    • This misses a critical step: Understanding the causes of the problem

What is Complexity?

  • Complex Systems:
    • nonlinear
    • self-organizing
    • emergence
    • hierarchical
    • heterogeneous agents

Many (Most?) Important Problems are Complex

  • The problems that face society involve complex systems
    • Generally: global warming, pandemics, etc.
    • Education: disparities, dropout, STEM participation
  • Complex problems have complex causes (nonlinear multi-causal, hierarchical)
  • … and, therefore, require complex solutions

A QMER Broad Aim

"We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge" 
                                                       - John Naisbitt
  • To provide the Resources and Skills foundational to Computation, Theory, and Experimentation needed to turn data and theory into knowledge.

Resources